Napoleon Hill’s classic, Think and Grow Rich, can be simplified into one single word – action.
If that’s all it takes, why aren’t more people rich?
The problem isn’t that people don’t take action. The problem is that they take action on the wrong things.
Most of us believe that if we work hard that we’ll succeed.
But it’s not enough to simply work hard which is something many people misunderstand.
I know business owners that come early, stay late, skip lunch, work on their days off and give every last ounce of energy to their business…and still fail.
Success in business and life isn’t simply about taking action, but rather taking the right action in the right areas.
We’ve all had the unfortunate experience of dealing with those people who THINK they know…but they just don’t.
Here’s just one of my stories. (and feel free to laugh)
A few years back, I met a guy who told me his dream was to work for Nintendo as he was good with computers.
At the time I needed some design work done on the computer so I asked him if he was any good at that sort of stuff to which he replied, “Yeah.”
The job was to take some work that had been done a few years ago and give it a make-over. Spruce things up. Make it pop. Something.
He said it wouldn’t be a problem so we agreed on a price and that was that.
I believe it was two days later when he stopped by my office to hand me the files. As I was in a meeting at the time I said, “Thanks. Here’s the money we agreed on. If I find any problems, I assume you’re ok with revisions.”
He said he was, thanked me and left.
I could hardly wait to see the results so the first chance I got, I opened them up.
I still remember what went through my mind at that instant, but I can’t say that here so I’ll use what for some people is code – “WTF!”
No sprucing. No popping. Nothing.
To put it nicely, it just plain sucked. To make matters worse, he had given me the files in PDF format which meant I couldn’t edit the files.
I called him back and said, “Hey look, this just isn’t good enough. There are too many mistakes. You’re going to have go over them again and fix them up.” Then I followed up by telling him I needed the files in an adjustable format.
He said he was sorry and he’d work on them over the weekend.
Monday came…no message. So I waited.
A week later, still nothing so I sent him over a message asking him where the files were.
No response.
A week later I sent over another reminder. This time he apologized and said he’d get it to me the following week.
So I waited…and waited…I personally had given up on him when out of the blue, 5 weeks since he originally handed in the work, I got a message from him.
I clearly remember it, “I’ve fixed all the errors, but it took me longer than I expected. It took me 5 hours to finish, but I’m cool with you just paying me for 3.”
“I’m sure you are…” is what went through my mind. Dear lord…the only reason he had to fix the errors was because he made them the first time.
I could have cared less if it had taken him 20 hours to finish it.
To cut a long story short, in the end, I got the files, I didn’t pay any extra, he called me some names…and worst of all…I had to throw his work in the trash.
That’s right. It was 100% absolutely garbage.
I knew very little about programs such as Photoshop and Illustrator…but what I did know is I could have made something 10 times better than what he gave me.
The moral of the story: Hard work doesn’t always equal good work.
Another thing I took away from this experience is not to trust what people say.
Too many say they can do things that they really can’t.
Taking action on things we have no idea about often causes more damage than it does help.
That’s what so many people do though.
When a friend of mine decided to start his own business, I passed along some simple suggestions from my mentor.
My mentor knows marketing as built his company up from a few clients to over 1000.
My friend essentially said, “That won’t work. I believe this other technique will be much more effective.” He then added, “Adrian, you know it’s dangerous to just following someone else’s advice.”
Gee, who am I going to listen to? A guy who has been in the business for 15 years with great success or someone who’s never been in business for himself?
I think you know the answer.
There are books, audio programs and DVD sets that can help us become better at sales, management, marketing, investing, real estate…pretty much anything.
And yet people don’t just refuse to go through them…but they are quick to refute what is in them.
If you’re serious about success…GROW UP.
Success isn’t going to land in your lap.
You’ve got to take action. And to be more specific, directed action.
Working hard doesn’t always get us where we want to go. But working hard to implement ideas that people have used to become millionaires, healthier, happier…now that’s a plan.
Listen to those who have done what you want to do. And I do mean listen.
The four areas that I would say that everyone in business should work on are:
- Sales
- Management
- Marketing
- Communication
It doesn’t matter if you’re a carpet cleaner, a Karate teacher or a doctor. These skills are needed if you want to succeed in your business.
Personally, I picked up a good marketing book recently which I’ll talk about later this week…cost about $20.
The ideas contained inside it are pure gold; million dollar ideas everywhere.
The ideas are out there…the question is will you go in search of them?
Adrian Shepherd